Assessing the potential of e-business models: towards a framework for assisting decision-makers

Decision makers are faced with an enormous range of electronic business models from which to choose. The process of fully researching each of these models can prove daunting. Such research is a feature of what has been termed the “intelligence phase” of decision making. This phase is important as options excluded at this stage do not get considered at a later stage. This paper develops a prerequisites framework for use at the intelligence phase to exclude models that are incompatible with prevailing organisational and supply chain characteristics. The framework assesses the following characteristics: economic control, supply chain integration, functional integration, innovation and input sourcing. The paper utilises a series of five point Likert scales to operationalise these characteristics so that they can be used by decision makers to efficiently manage “intelligence phase” activities.